Bride of Chucky is a 1998 American slasher film written by Don Mancini and directed by Ronny Yu. The fourth installment in the Child's Play franchise, it stars Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif, John Ritter, Katherine Heigl, and Nick Stabile. Unlike the first three films, Bride of Chucky takes a markedly humorous turn towards self-referential parody. It also departs from the Andy Barclay storyline of the first three films, focusing mainly on series villain Chucky, a doll possessed by a serial killer, and his former lover and accomplice Tiffany, whose soul is also transferred into a doll.
Bride of Chucky was released on October 16, 1998. The film grossed over $50 million worldwide on a budget of $25 million, and received mixed reviews from critics. A sequel, Seed of Chucky, was released in 2004.
Plot[]
Tiffany Valentine, a former lover and accomplice of serial killer Charles Lee Ray, bribes a police officer into giving her the dismembered parts of a children's doll—which Ray's soul inhabited—from an evidence locker before murdering him. Believing that Ray's soul still inhabits the doll, Tiffany stitches and staples Chucky back together and reenacts the voodoo ritual which had instilled Ray's soul inside the doll ten years prior.
Though her incantations appear to fail, Chucky comes alive and smothers Tiffany's goth admirer Damien to death with a pillow as Tiffany watches in excitement. Tiffany presents Chucky with a ring he had left behind the night he was killed, which she believed to be an engagement ring. When Chucky explains he never intended on marrying Tiffany, she locks him in a playpen and taunts him with a bride doll. Chucky escapes the playpen and murders Tiffany by electrocuting her in a bathtub.
He then transports her soul into the bride doll, and says they must retrieve a magical amulet that was buried with his human body in order to transfer their souls into the bodies of Tiffany's neighbor Jesse and his girlfriend Jade. Tiffany calls Jesse and asks him to take the two dolls to Hackensack, New Jersey, where Ray's body is buried, in exchange for money. Eager to elope with Jade, Jesse accepts the offer. Jade's strict uncle, police chief Warren Kincaid, plants a bag of marijuana in Jesse's van to frame him. Chucky and Tiffany rig a trap which embeds several nails into Warren's face, then hide his body within the van. Jesse and Jade begin their trip. The two are pulled over by Officer Norton, who finds the marijuana in Jesse's van. After Norton returns to his patrol car to report it, Chucky stuffs a shirt into the car's gas tank and lights it on fire. The car explodes with Norton inside, and Jesse and Jade flee the scene.
They both begin to suspect that one of them might have caused the incident and begin to distrust each other. Despite their issues, Jesse and Jade get married. While at a hotel, another couple steals Jesse's money. As the couple have sex in their room, Tiffany murders them by causing them to be impaled by glass shards. Seeing this, Chucky proposes to Tiffany and the two have sex. The following morning, Jesse and Jade flee with their friend David, who came to the hotel after they both called him separately the previous night, worried the other might be the killer. David informs Jesse and Jade that they are the prime suspects for the deaths, but says he believes them to both be innocent. Upon finding Warren's dead body, David holds them at gunpoint and alerts a police officer. The dolls come alive, causing David to back onto the highway, where he is run over. Jesse and Jade drive away with the dolls, who reveal their plan.
They steal an RV to evade the police, where Jesse and Jade instigate a fight between Chucky and Tiffany; in the commotion, Jade locks Tiffany into an oven, Jesse pushes Chucky out the window, and the RV crashes into a ditch. Chucky forces Jade to take him to his gravesite while Jesse follows with Tiffany. Obeying Chucky's orders, Jade retrieves the amulet from the casket. Jesse then appears with Tiffany and they trade hostages, but Chucky throws a knife into Jesse's back and ties up the couple for the ritual. As Chucky begins the incantation, Tiffany kisses him and stabs him with his knife. A battle ensues, and Tiffany collapses after being stabbed in the heart by Chucky. Jesse knocks Chucky into his own grave with a shovel. Private investigator Lt. Preston arrives and sees Chucky, walking and talking in the grave. Jade grabs Preston's gun and shoots Chucky several times in the chest, killing him.
After contacting the police and declaring the teens innocent, Preston sends the couple on their way home. As he inspects Tiffany's body, she springs awake and starts screaming, giving birth to a baby doll which attacks Preston.
Cast[]
- Jennifer Tilly as Tiffany
- Brad Dourif as Chucky (voice)
- Katherine Heigl as Jade
- Nick Stabile as Jesse
- Alexis Arquette as Damien
- Gordon Michael Woolvett as David
- John Ritter as Chief Warren Kincaid
- Lawrence Dane as Lt. Preston
- Michael Johnson as Norton
- James Gallanders as Russ
- Janet Kidder as Diane
- Vince Corazza as Bailey
- Kathy Najimy as Motel Maid
- Park Bench as Stoner
- Emily Weedon as Girl at One-Stop
- Ben Bass as Lt. Ellis
- Roger McKeen as Justice of the Peace
- Sandi Stahlbrand as Reporter